When the act of creation was coming to an end and the final whistle was about to be blown, an idea transpired in Lord Brahma's head.

He called the storekeeper and said, ‘Hey storekeeper, bring fair amounts of all five elements to my workshop. I will create a new animal.’

The storekeeper folded his hands and said, ‘Grandfather, when you created the elephant, the whale, the anaconda, the lion and the tiger, in all your excitement you did not pay any attention to stocktaking. The supplies of all the strong and heavy elements are almost completely drained. There is very little left of earth, water and fire. Only air and space are left, and they are there in plenty.’

The four-headed Brahma twirled His four moustaches for a while and said, ‘Well, bring me whatever you have, let me see what I can do.’

This time, when He created the new animal, He was really stingy with the earth, water and fire. He did not give horns to the new animal, and no claws either. The teeth that He gave were good for chewing but not for biting. He gave it a small amount of fire so that the animal could be of some use in battlefields, but not enough to make the animal interested in fighting.

This animal is the horse. It does not lay eggs but there is a hearsay about these eggs, so it can be called a twice-born animal.